This study takes the old myth of objectivity in media discourse to one of the most important but unrecognized actors in the process of its construction: the mass media information scientist or documentalist. Accepting the subjective presence of the documentalist in his/her productions, this article opts for the recognition and explicit statement of this role, recommending two actions. First, we suggest that public higher education institutions combine the technical training of mass media documentalists with training in critical thinking skills. Our study analysed the subjects covered in course syllabi to detect the deficiencies to be addressed in meeting this objective. Second, we propose alternative lines of training that can contribute to cross-training of mass media documentalists in those degree programs to ensure that they acquire the needed skills in critical analysis.

This study explores the dynamics of the mass media in fostering economic, cultural,
political and social interactions among people and nations of Africa. This paper argues that for
the continent to realize its ambitions of regional integration, news contents must be designed by
Africans for African environment. In other words, Africa’s media practitioners, and news
managers must cause a paradigm shift from the western oriented information flow to news
patterns that are indigenous in nature. The Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) of 1980, the Abuja
Treaty of 1991 etc, are some of the laudable initiatives by African leaders which this paper
extols as steps in the right direction towards pursuing Africa’s regional integration, but insists
that unless African people understand themselves and their history and destiny, as well as share
common problems through free flow of information, region integration process will continue to
suffer setbacks. It is in line with this thinking that the paper raises some questions which
includes; which ways could the media provide effective integration pattern through intra African
information flow? What are the challenges of the media in African integration process? Finally,
the paper takes a look on the way forward to arrest the challenges of the media in Africa.

Background: Mass media campaigns are frequently used to influence the health behaviors of various populations. There are currently no quantitative meta-analyses of the effect of mass media campaigns on physical activity in adults. Methods: We searched six electronic databases from their inception to August 2012 and selected prospective studies that evaluated the effect of mass media campaigns on physical activity in adults. We excluded studies that did not have a proper control group or did not report the uncertainties of the effect estimates. Two reviewers independently screened the title/abstracts and full articles. We used random-effects models to pool effect estimates across studies for 3 selected outcomes. Results: Nine prospective cohorts and before-after studies that followed-up 27,601 people over 8 weeks to 3 years met the inclusion criteria. Based on the pooled results from these studies, mass media campaigns had a significant effect on promoting moderate intensity walking (pooled relative risk (RR) from 3 studies=1.53, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.25 to 1.87), but did not help participants achieve sufficient levels of physical activity [4 studies pooled RR=1.02, 95% CI: 0.91 to 1.14)]. The apparent effect of media campaigns on reducing sedentary behavior (pooled RR=1.15...

v. 17, n. 2, p. 136-156, jul./dez. 2014.; The purpose of the study is to analyze gender differences in a sample of adolescents regarding the
perception of body image, perception of the influence of the media and the practice of physical
activity. We used the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), the Cuestionario de Influencias del Modelo
Estético Corporal (CIMEC-26) and the discussion group as data collection technique. The results
indicate the existence of a greater body dissatisfaction, as well as greater influence of mass media on
females adolescents. In addition, the speeches of focus groups underscore a wide variety of mediators
in the construction of body image today: the norm of thinness, the lack of a diversity of clothes that
adapt to different bodies, the impact of the influence of media and social evidence that thin people are
more accepted in all social spheres.; El objetivo del estudio es conocer las diferencias de género en una muestra de adolescentes respecto a
la percepción de la imagen corporal y la percepción de la influencia de los medios de comunicación,
desde una perspectiva cuantitativa y cualitativa. Fueron utilizados el Body Shape Questionnaire
(BSQ), el Cuestionario de Influencias del Modelo Estético Corporal (CIMEC-26) y el grupo de
discusión como técnica de recogida de los datos. Los resultados indican la existencia de una mayor
insatisfacción corporal en adolescentes del sexo femenino. Además...

This paper analyzes a randomized
experiment that uses novel strategies to promote handwashing
with soap at critical times in Peru. It evaluates a
large-scale intervention that includes a mass media
provincial campaign and a district-level community
component. The analysis finds that the mass media
intervention alone had no significant effect on exposure to
the handwashing promotion campaign messages, and therefore
no effect on handwashing knowledge or handwashing behavior.
In contrast, the community-level intervention, a more
comprehensive intervention that included several community
and school activities in addition to the communications
campaign, was successful in reaching the target audience
with handwashing promotion messages and in improving the
knowledge of the treated population on appropriate
handwashing behavior. Those improvements translated into
higher self-reported and observed handwashing with soap at
critical junctures. However, no significant improvements in
the health of children under the age of five were observed.
The results are consistent with earlier literature...

Excel file with a list of 116 spanish journalists Twitter accounts. All of them are director of mass media (newspaper, radio, TV, et.al). We include: director name, media name, account name, numbers of tweets, number of followings, number of followers, ratio, et.al. This data is both for directors and media accounts. Extracted from Twitter on June 2013.

BACKGROUND: The mass media have been used as a way of delivering preventive health messages. They have the potential to reach and to modify the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of a large proportion of the community. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of mass media interventions to prevent smoking in young people in terms of reduced smoking uptake, in addition to secondary outcomes including improved smoking outcomes, attitudes, behaviours, knowledge, self-efficacy and perception. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Specialised Register and conducted additional searches of MEDLINE and EMBASE in July 2010. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized trials, controlled trials without randomization and time series studies that assessed the effectiveness of mass media campaigns (defined as channels of communication such as television, radio, newspapers, bill boards, posters, leaflets or booklets intended to reach large numbers of people and which are not dependent on person to person contact) in influencing the smoking behaviour (either objective or self-reported) of young people under the age of 25 years. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Information relating to the characteristics and the content of media interventions...

Examines language used by general practitioners and in mass media to ask 'what are the implications of constructions of menopause for health care practice and public health for women at menopause?'. Presents the findings of qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with nine general practitioners working in rural South Australia and qualitative and quantitative analyses of 345 south Australian newspaper articles from 1986 to 1998.; Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 2001?; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-288).; x, 288 leaves ; 30 cm.

Mass media play a crucial role in
information distribution and in the political market and
public policy making. Theory predicts that information
provided by the mass media reflects the media's
incentives to provide news to different groups in society
and affects these groups' influence in policy making.
The paper use data on agricultural policy from 69 countries
spanning a wide range of development stages and media
markets to test these predictions. The empirical results are
consistent with theoretical hypotheses that public support
for agriculture is affected by the mass media. In
particular, an increase in media (television) diffusion is
associated with policies that benefit the majority to a
greater extent and is correlated with a reduction in
agriculture taxation in poor countries and a reduction in
the subsidization of agriculture in rich countries, ceteris
paribus. The empirical results are consistent with the
hypothesis that increased competition in commercial media
reduces transfers to special interest groups and contributes
to more efficient public policies.

Mass media and social marketing programs
are cheap, scalable, and potentially effective means of
influencing consumers' financial behavior and
decisions. In light of this potential, and in order to
provide clear policy direction, this paper provides an
overview of the existing and ongoing research efforts in
this domain, and highlights the importance of expanding the
evidence base by conducting rigorous impact assessments in
this field. Exploring four case studies, it provides lessons
in designing effective evaluations specifically targeting
mass media and social marketing programs on consumer
financial management, highlights the value of incorporating
insights from behavioral psychology in program design, and
suggests avenues for future research.

This qualitative study investigated Chinese ESL students’ use of host mass media and how such use enabled them to acquire host communication competence and acculturation from their perspective. It was grounded on Kim’s theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation and the uses and gratifications theory, and employed a phenomenography approach. Nine participants at a university in Ontario were involved in this study. Data obtained from media use logs, think-aloud protocols, and follow-up interviews provided a fairly far-reaching and detailed description of the participants’ uses, reasoning, and effects of using host mass media.
The analysis of data illustrated that these students used a variety of media as sources of information, language acquisition, culture learning, entertainment, and communication. Findings suggest that host mass media were the major influence on these students’ acquisition of host communication competence, perceptions of and acculturation to Canada. Their reliance on mass communication went into the later years of their acculturation process, and complemented their language and culture learning, which was somewhat limited through insufficient or reluctant participation in host interpersonal communication. Host communication competence was a primary factor that influenced their selection and use of host mass media...

Specific examples of cases where Spanish women and those of other cultures are rendered invisible in different situations and places in their societies and in the mass media are examined in this article. The purpose of exploring that invisibility, with particular attention to the way women’s actual circumstances are reflected in the mass media, is to emphasize that, although this is an era of women’s emancipation, a more profound analysis shows that emancipation often is linked to treatment of the female body. The study also makes it possible to speak of “invisible” women in many sectors of society, as is explained in detail.; En este trabajo se ponen de manifiesto ejemplos concretos en los que las mujeres españolas y de otras culturas son invisibilizadas en diferentes lugares y situaciones de las sociedades a las que pertenecen y en los medios de comunicación. El fin de explorar dicha invisibilidad, prestando especial atención al modo en que se refleja la realidad de las mujeres en los medios de comunicación, es destacar que a pesar de estar en una época en la que hay emancipación de la mujer, un análisis más profundo nos hace ver que dicha emancipación va muchas veces unida a la cosificación del cuerpo femenino. Además...

ArXiv pre-print: http://arxiv.org/abs/0705.1091.; We study the effects of different forms of information feedback associated with mass media on an agent-agent based model of the dynamics of cultural dissemination. In addition to some processes previously considered, we also examine a model of local mass media influence in cultural dynamics. Two mechanisms of information feedback are investigated: (i) direct mass media influence, where local or global mass media act as an additional element in the network of interactions of each agent, and (ii) indirect mass media influence, where global media acts as a filter of the influence of the existing network of interactions of each agent. Our results generalize previous findings showing that cultural diversity builds up by increasing the strength of the mass media influence. We find that this occurs independently of the mechanisms of action (direct or indirect) of the mass media message. However, through an analysis of the full range of parameters measuring cultural diversity, we establish that the enhancement of cultural diversity produced by interaction with mass media only occurs for strong enough mass media messages. In comparison with previous studies a main different result is that weak mass media messages...

This study looks at the process of local policy change in environmental policy decisions. It employs a comparative case study research design to analyze the creation of a new recreational water right in Colorado to support whitewater boating. It compared the 12 communities that have applied for the new water right to 6 non-adopter communities. Factors including stakeholder groups, citizens, policy entrepreneurs, mass media, policy knowledge, policy timing, and politicians' motivations are analyzed to determine their role in local policy decisions. This research also considers how policy change in local communities promoted new state laws, and was in turn influenced by them.
The dataset includes interviews with 75 Colorado water experts and community decision makers, mass media coverage of the policy process, and legal and legislative documentation of the process. These data were then analyzed within cases and across cases to create a model of community policy change.
This research found that three elements were present when a community's policies changed regarding the use of natural resources. First, the community was dependent on the resource, either economically or socially. Second, a policy entrepreneur was present to influence the community's decision makers to enact a new policy regarding natural resource use. These policy entrepreneurs were most often experts in water law or management. Finally...

Chapter 1. Introduction
From September 1985 through August 1988 the Disaster Research Center
(DRC) at the University of Delaware undertook a study of local mass
media response to community disasters. A total of 15 new field studies
were undertaken for this research, fourteen in the United States and
one in Canada (and for certain purposes comparable data from two
earlier studies were also used). The research had a number of specific
topical goals, namely the following. First, we conducted a survey of all local media outlets in those
communities in which DRC carried out field work for this study. The
purpose of the survey was to document the involvement of the Local
radio, television and newspaper organizations in local community
disasters. We were interested in establishing the degree and kind of
participation in the response that the local mass communication system
would show in disasters in their own areas. Second, 32 in depth case studies were undertaken of the largest and
most involved local radio, television and newspaper outlets. The
primary goal of this second research objective was to determine the
organizational structure and news processing patterns of these entities
in the emergency periods of disasters. Specifically...

From September 1985 through August 1988 the Disaster Research Center (DRC) at the University of Delaware undertook a study of local mass media response to community disasters. A total of 15 new field studies
were undertaken for this research, fourteen in the United States and
one in Canada (and for certain purposes comparable data from two
earlier studies were also used). The research had a number of specific
topical goals, namely the following. First, we conducted a survey of all local media outlets in those
communities in which DRC carried out field work for this study. The
purpose of the survey was to document the involvement of the local
radio, television and newspaper organizations in local community
disasters. We were interested in establishing the degree and kind of
participation in the response that the local mass communication system
would show in disasters in their own areas.; US National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant #CES-8504423.

On September 11, 2001, the world witnessed one of the most hideous terrorist attacks ever perpetrated on American soil. Individuals from the Al Qaeda terrorist network intentionally flew commercial jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, leaving the highest death toll (near three thousand people) ever registered for a single terrorist act. Beyond comparison in terms of its nature and magnitude, the tragedy generated both a vast disruption and the mobilization of many individuals, organizations, and resources.
This paper examines the mass media coverage of volunteerism in the context of the World Trade Center disaster. Using news accounts, this paper, firstly, explores the extent of convergence in Lower Manhattan immediately after the terrorist attacks and the types of activities in which volunteers engaged. Then, using notions of “frame analysis” advanced by social scientists such as Goffman (1974) and Gamson (1985), this paper seeks to identify how the media “framed” volunteerism in the context of 9/11. The mass media both empowers and limits understanding by providing an edited or fragmented version of reality. Thus, it is crucial to identify both what frames the media borrowed from broader cultural contexts and what frames the media made available to the public when reporting volunteerism in 9/11.

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2177-7055.2013v34n66p187 Este trabalho pretende analisar a relação entre a crise do Estado e o surgimento de poderes paralelos não regulados, com ênfase nos meios de comunicação de massas. Explicar- -se-á o fenômeno de desintegração da opinião pública pelos meios de comunicação de massas. Será ressaltada a necessidade de regulamentação dos poderes midiáticos, em especial através de mecanismos que inibam a concentração proprietária dos meios de comunicação de massas e a sua relação com poderes econômicos e políticos. Concluir-se-á que o controle dos poderes midiáticos é meio hábil para reconstruir uma opinião pública legitimamente formada.; This paper aims to analyse the link between the crisis of the State and the emergence of unregulated parallel powers, with emphasis on mass media. It will be explained the disintegration of public opinion by mass media. It will be shown the need for regulation of media power, particularly through mechanisms that inhibit the ownership concentration of mass media companies and its association with economic and political power. It will be proposed that the control of media power is a valid expedient to rearrange a legitimately formed public opinion.